Learn how some of the most popular health and fitness apps made by Apple, Fitbit, Google, Samsung, Withings, and more, motivate you to get in shape and stay fit. You also learn about some unique walking canes that offer special features and add a layer of safety while you continue to live an active lifestyle.

This chapter is from the book

Track your daily exercise activities, and achieve your health and fitness goals by using apps and creating a fitness plan. Get to know some innovative walking canes.

In this chapter, you learn how some of the most popular health and fitness apps made by Apple, Fitbit, Google, Samsung, Withings, and more, motivate you to get in shape and stay fit. You also learn about some unique walking canes that offer special features and add a layer of safety while you continue to live an active lifestyle.

Tracking Your Daily Activity

Tracking Steps

Tracking Flights of Stairs Climbed

Monitoring Walking and Running Distance

Tracking Biking Activity

Creating a Fitness Plan

Achieving Health and Fitness Goals with More Apps

Getting to Know High-Tech Canes

Many apps are on the market that empower you to set daily goals for the number of steps taken, flights climbed, distance run or biked, and more. You may already have a smartphone with one of these apps preinstalled. Many of the health and fitness solutions in this chapter don’t require that you purchase a fitness tracker to get started. If working out is already a part of your daily routine, you’ll get to know some resources that can help you get more out of your routine by acting as a workout partner or personal trainer. If you’re integrating exercise back into your lifestyle or for the first time, apps can help customize a fitness routine. If you use a cane or may need one, some apps have capabilities you may not have considered that help you stay active and safe at the same time. Let’s start with some of the basic functions of health and fitness apps, which include tracking steps and flights climbed.

Tracking Your Daily Activity

Tracking your daily fitness activity is a great way to stay motivated and strengthen willpower. Fitness apps and trackers can help you set your own goals and help maintain a pace that will keep you on target to meet those goals. The simple act of keeping a record of your progress can motivate you to do better the next day. If you ran or walked two miles today, a fitness app can motivate you to go farther or faster tomorrow by showing you how many calories you burned. Maybe you just want to best your previous results. Regardless of the metric, this data-driven approach lets you know exactly how much you’re doing per activity and can motivate you to run and walk farther, use the stairs instead of the elevator, and bike farther each week. If your smartphone is almost always with you, having a mobile fitness app onboard is practical and at times inspirational.

The examples you are about to read are a mixture of apps that can be used by themselves on your smartphone, in connection with other apps, or with a fitness tracker. If you want to use your phone and app only, consider a sport armband. A sport armband lets you slide your phone into it and fastens around your upper arm while you work out, usually using a Velcro strip. You can easily find these by searching online for “sports armband.” Some are made for multiple devices, but tack on the name and model of your smartphone to your search just to be certain you get one for your specific device. Also, take your arm circumference into consideration before you make a purchase.

Some apps and devices require you to put them into a specific exercise mode such as running, walking, or biking. Others use the sensors in your device, smartphone, and/or tracker to automatically determine which activity you are performing. Neither of these methods gets it right 100 percent of the time. Trackers and apps that automatically detect which activity you are performing can get it wrong sometimes. You may be running or cycling, but your app or tracker may register it as walking. Your smartphone and tracker might differ on how many steps you have taken. Keep these occasional inconsistencies in mind when trying these devices.